Textures are the type of images used in videogames. You can see them in the models, in the planet, in creatures,...

In Spore, textures use the DDS texture format. In this tutorial we'll show you how to export these type of textures using the two most common graphic design programs: Gimp and Photoshop. Both are equally good when it comes to textures, so use whichever you prefer.

The .rw4.dds format

Actually, Spore uses a modified format, .rw4 (also used in models). If you are going to use a texture in your mod files, you need to finish it with the extension .rw4.dds (instead of the normal .dds) so that SporeModderFX converts it automatically.

If you are only going to use the texture in Blender (for exporting a part, for example), you don't need that special extension.

Exporting DDS textures

Photoshop

In order to be able to load and save DDS textures in Photoshop, you will need to download and install the NVIDIA Texture Tools for Adobe Photoshop.

Once you have it installed, to export an image as a .dds texture:

1. Use the menu File -> Save As...

2. In the file browser dialog that appears, ensure the Type box is set to D3D/DDS (*.DDS;*.DDS).

3. After selecting the location where you want to save the file, click on Save. A new dialog will appear where you configure the export options; you should have something like this (you need to change the format to DXT5):

Gimp

Gimp already has built-in support for DDS textures, so you don't need to install anything extra. To export an image as a .dds texture:

1. Click on the menu File -> Export...:

2. In the file browser dialog that appears, ensure the format box is set to DDS image (*.dds):

3. After selecting the location where you want to save the file, click on Export. A new dialog will appear where you configure the export options; you should have something like this: